How Pule Mabe would turn ANC finances around as treasurer-general
ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe has outlined some of the strategies he would propose to the party to aid its ailing finances should he be elected treasurergeneral at the party’s 55th national conference in December.
Mabe confirmed he would make himself available if enough branches nominated him and he met the required threshold to serve in the party’s top leadership.
He has already been approached and nominated by various ANC branches for the position of treasurer-general, some of which are in Gauteng.
“The fact that you’re talking to me from the headquarters of the ANC here at Luthuli House means that for the past near five years this is the work I have done on a full-time basis.
“I work for the ANC. When I wake up in the morning and come into work, my place of employment is the ANC,” Mabe said in a sit-down interview on Wednesday.
“So if members of the ANC see me fit to perform the role of treasurer of the ANC and make their own nominations, well it is up to me to affirm their confidence.”
Mabe is expected to go up against finance minister Enoch Godongwana, Ekurhuleni chair Mzwandile Masina and Eastern Cape executive committee member Andile Lungisa.
Lungisa has, however, been suspended from the party until September next year.
According to Mabe, the party would have to come up with other fundraising strategies, including crowdfunding, given the limitations brought by the Political Party Funding Act.
The ANC has continuously failed to pay staff salaries, as well as provident fund and medical aid payments.
One of Mabe’s suggestions is to remove from the party’s wage bill some of the staff who could be employed by the government while continuing to work at Luthuli House.
“You could be able to have staffers of the ANC working at ANC caucuses but still being able to provide full-time service to the organisation,” he said.
“You could have those who are elected full-time being MPs, like it is the case with other political parties, and having time to do the work of the organisation full-time.
The party will also have to look at its internal finances by rationalising its staff complement.
According to Mabe, the party could do away with the hiring of a personal assistant for every senior management head, and instead have all current PAs under a single umbrella to service the entire organisation through a shared service.
“You see, if you have not retrenched, you have rationalised. You have ensured that you keep the resources that you have to now service the entirety of the organisation.
“So administrators are no longer linked to a person or a role, they are now linked to a function.
“So you begin reducing what you will be able to pay out.”
Mabe has proposed the party amend its constitution to allow for either two treasurers general or a deputy.
One would, he said, focus on raising funds while the other focused on policy and oversight.
Mabe said ANC members in general would have to change their mindset around the finances of their party.